The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has joined a growing list of federal agencies weighing in on financial institutions’ cryptocurrency activities. The FDIC on Thursday issued a letter to supervised banks making it clear that they should inform the agency if they are dealing in crypto or plan to do so. FDIC-supervised institutions should notify a regional director. The notice should describe the activity in detail and include a proposed timeline for engaging

Bolt, a payments provider based in San Francisco, has agreed to buy Wyre, a cryptocurrency infrastructure provider. Bolt said in a press release Thursday that it expects the acquisition of the San Francisco company to close later this year. The companies plan to collaborate on projects designed to provide mainstream, secure crypto usage for shoppers, retailers and developers. The goal is to connect Bolt’s one-click checkout and fraud prevention product to the

Bank of Marin Bancorp in Novato, Calif., will soon have a new chairman. The $4.3 billion-asset company said in a press release Thursday that Willie McDevitt will become the chairman on May 10. He has been a director since 2007 and vice chairman since 2015. McDevitt is a consultant to McDevitt Construction Partners, a company he founded in 1976. He is also president of Sausalito Hotel Corp., which owns and operates The

Unifimoney, a fintech that is building a wealth management platform for small banks and credit unions, has raised $10 million from investors that include the Independent Community Bankers of America. The San Francisco startup has a platform that includes trading in over 70 cryptocurrencies, along with passive and active investing in stocks, ETFs and precious metals.  The new capital will help Unifimoney extend its coverage of alternative assets to include collectables,

Republic First Bancorp received a notice that its shares could be delisted from the Nasdaq after the Philadelphia company said it would be unable to file its annual report in a timely manner. The $5.4 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing Wednesday that it received the written notification last week. The company has up to 60 days to “either cure the deficiency or to submit a plan to Nasdaq showing

Grasshopper Bank, a de novo in New York, is working with a fintech to improve its fraud detection capabilities. FiVerity said in a press release that it is working with the $299 million-asset digital-first bank. “FiVerity helps us take an aggressive approach to fraud detection,” Michael Butler, Grasshopper’s CEO, said in the release. The fintech’s products are being paired with Grasshopper’s existing identity verification and cybersecurity platform. "We will design and implement protections for

Comunibanc in Napoleon, Ohio, began to seriously explore selling itself after receiving an unsolicited offer last summer from an unnamed bank.The $329 million-asset parent of Henry County Bank would agree in January to be sold to Civista Banchares in Sandusky, Ohio, for $50.2 million in cash and stock. The deal is expected to close by the end of June.  Comunibanc was considering its strategic alternatives when it received the unsolicited

Fast, a fintech that included Stripe among its financial backers, is closing. The startup, founded in 2020, allowed users to check out instantly without entering passwords or other account information. “Sometimes trailblazers don’t always make it all the way to the mountain top,” Domm Holland, the San Francisco company’s co-founder and CEO, tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “After making great strides on our mission of making, buying and selling frictionless for everyone, we have made